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F2 tornado in Conway County, Arkansas

Tornado March 1, 1997 · Conway County, Arkansas

F2
Rating
17.5 mi
Whole path
880 yd
Path width
2
Injuries
$5.6M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Pope County → Conway County → Van Buren County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

The wider storm

The Pope County tornado moved into Conway County about 2 miles west-southwest of Jerusalem at 338 pm CST and traveled northeastward. The tornado affected the northern and western parts of Jerusalem. West of town, a hog farm and tin shed were destroyed and a number of trees were blown down. As the tornado moved north of Jerusalem, a trailer was overturned and destroyed. One person in the trailer was injured. Thereafter, numerous trees were downed as the tornado moved through the Ozark National Forest. Damage along the tornado path was consistent with an F2 rating.

Began near Jerusalem (35.3800, -92.8500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5592930. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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